“Hold on. Don’t let go. Pull harder. We’re here for you. Come on. You can make it.” The shouts of Rosewood Bend’s villagers echoed across the river, but Lena Harper, barefoot and nineteen, barely heard them. She saw only the stranger thrashing in the current—a black man in a ruined suit, gold watch flashing beneath the water, his face twisted in panic as the river tried to swallow him whole. Lena didn’t hesitate. She seized a splintered fishing pole, dropped to her knees in the mud, and thrust it into the torrent. “Grab it!” she screamed. The man’s hand clamped around the stick, and the river nearly yanked them both under. Lena’s arms burned, knees sliding toward the edge. She had no idea that the man she was fighting to save was a billionaire prince, hunted by enemies who were already scouring the banks.
